Trial against milk manufacturer and hospital after baby dies
Trial milk bottle[1] has started
DENDERMONDE – Monday NV Nestlé, manufacturer of powdered milk for infant formula, and a couple of members of the hospital staff of the ASH of Aalst were committed to trial in front of the court of justice. The ten accused persons are charged for the unintentional killing of the seven day old baby Natan in March 2002, by lack of precautions.
The baby was infected by a
bacterium in a bottle of formula[1].
Natan finished that bottle just before he left the hospital. After that
he fell ill and wouldn’t eat any more. Finally the baby became
completely dehydrated and died.
Autopsy showed the bacterium had caused
meningitis. Specialists of the court
investigated the case and concluded that he unhygienic conditions of
preparing milk in the ASZ of Aalst had caused the death of the baby.
Therefore those responsible for the hygienic situation of the hospital:
pediatricians, midwife and general manager were summoned to court.
According to the .. NV Nestle had not been clear enough on the labels of
the formula and should have given more information about correct storing
of bottles of milk. All those accused deny fault and ask for acquittal.
Verdict: September 17.
Monday June18, 2007 | Source: Belga
Trial against milk manufacturer and hospital after baby dies
Same article as above, but different title.
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Parents accuse [2]Nestlé and Aalst hospital.
Nathalie Van der Borgt and Jos Geerinck's son died seven days after his birth
© Hendrik De Rycke
Natan died from a bacterium in the milk for which producer Nestle failed to warn.
Yesterday the trial against some
members of the board of the General City Hospital (ASZ) of Aalst, two
nurses and the midwife of the maternity ward, the chief physician and
two pediatricians started before the Dendermonde court of justice. The
food manufacturer Nestlé also faced trial, as manufacturer of the
formula for infants in the ASZ. The hospital and the company are blamed
to have unintentially caused the death of baby Nathan Geerinck ‘by
neglectance, lack of hygiene or precautions’
Nathan died on March 17, 2002, seven days after he was born. He had just
been discharged of the ASZ of Aalst with his mother. He had had a last
bottle of formula in the hospital that afternoon, but at home he
wouldn’t eat or drink anymore’, mother Nathalie Van der Borgt says.
The parents took their baby to the paediatrician on call immediately.
This paediatrician advised them to give diluted formula and wait over
night. ‘But he wouldn’t eat anything and his condition weakened
visibly’, the mother says.
The next morning, the parents brought their baby to the emergency
department of the ASZ panicking. Natan appeared to be completely
dehydrated. The paediatrician tried to save his life with drips and
antibiotics. The baby was rushed to the Gent university hospital, but
died there that night.
Autopsy showed the baby had died from the bacterium Enterobacter
Sakazakii. Manufacturer Netslé immediately took all formula from the ASZ
in Aalst and also withdrew the full lot from the market. Investigation
by the company in Switzerland showed that the type of Sakazakii
bacterium in the lot of formula was identical to the one in the tissues
of the deceased baby. ‘But the bacterium was only present in the formula
in a very small percentage of 4 in 100 gram, wich is way below the
permitted standard’, Nestlé’s lawyer insists.
Still the manufacturer kept completely quiet about the Swiss
investigation. ‘The results only became known after a house-search at
Nestlés’, the parents lawyer says.
Specialist furthermore established that the Sakazakii bacterium can
develop strongly at insufficient hygiene while preparing the formula,
and storing the bottles too warm. That’s where the maternity ward of the
ASZ would be to blame. For instance the food inspection found the milk
room in the maternity ward was not closed to the public. The milk in
about sixty bottles was over 8 degrees to warm. The temperature of the
refrigerator was not checked twice daily and was about eleven degrees,
where four degrees is the obligatory standard.
‘This was a moment’s view and the milk had just been prepared and hadn’t cooled down completely. Furthermore there hasn’t been identified a problem with the formula in a single other baby that was born at the time in the ASZ’, lawyers of the board and the nursing staf of the ASZ say.
A fact is that all manufacturers of formula, including Nestle, have warned for the bacterium worldwide since the death of Natan. Since they advise against preparation of bottles of formula in advance and storing them in the refrigerator and advise to discard leftovers of formula in the bottle.
“When our baby was born, that was not stated in the instructions. We weren’t warned against this dangerous bacterium’, father Jos Geerinck and mother Nathalie Van der Borght say. The verdict will be known in September. (dbs)